Episode Reviews (7)

Batgirl rules all.

By FinnMacCool555, Sep 26, 2011

What it seems is technically the third season premiere of The Batman opens with one of the series' best episodes. I missed "Strange Minds" and "Night and the City" the past two weeks, so, when I saw Batman fighting Poison Ivy and Batgirl showing up at the beginning, I was afraid I had missed their introduction somehow. This fight scene pauses, however, when Batgirl breaks in with narration and starts telling the story over from the beginning. This is a good way of gaining viewer interest and, I must say, I really liked Barbara/Batgirl's voice-over and dialouge in general. She just seemed to have a really natural but great sense of humor and wit about all the events going on. Her starting off as an eco-vandal with Pamela Isley (soon to be Poison Ivy) was a nice touch, and the connection formed between Pamela and the muscle-bound thug du jour, Temblor, was handled smoothly and made a lot of sense.Pamela Isley seems to be one of the most realistic villains on The Batman as she, like many teenagers, can get really obsessive about a cause when they first discover it (I went through a similar phase myself), and drawing Barbara part way into her eco-terrorism was very believable.Barbara Gordon, while not shown becoming Batgirl in this episode, has got the set-up for doing so down-pat. Her father, Commissioner Gordon, establishes that Barbara tends to fluctuate between friends and passions in life (starting out wanting to be a detective, then a bee farmer, then a saver of the environment), so, when she sees Batman and goes "He is so cool!" it makes a lot of sense that she'd make her new passion in life vigilanteism.All in all, this episode was mostly set-up, but the glimpses given of the "future" keep it from going stale, as we're eager to see what leads to that state of affairs. Add in the brilliant characterization of Batgirl (excuse me, Batwoman), the typically great fight scenes, and some moments of great humor (Pamela balancing the lives of teenage girl and criminal mastermind really had me cracking up) and this is an episode that rivals "The Laughing Bat" and "Traction".moreless

The best introduction of characters so far.

By ellewoodspower, Sep 26, 2011

At first I was afraid, I was petrified. I really like this show and the way the characters are re-created in it, but I kept thinking making Poison Ivy so young was an error – even if I’ve loved her new design ever since I saw it.

On the contrary I was not worried about Batgirl, I thought she was not that much older when she began on the previous shows. When I finally saw this episode I realized that I was wrong for my first statement, right for the second. Poison Ivy, even if she’s too young to be a femme fatale, makes a pretty good Lolita. She has a younger form of seduction that is really effective. The way she acts for the sake of Nature can appear as a form of logical rebellion for a teenager. On the other side Batgirl is exactly how I figured she would be. Her youth serves the development of the relationship she has with her father.For the episode as itself, it is really good. Temblor brings the action in it. Meanwhile we can discover the motivations of the two new female characters.moreless

A good thing gone way bad

By MegatronsGhost, Sep 26, 2011

This story is the begining of the end for \\\\\\\"the batamn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" it\\\\\\\'s probably written by the same guys that made Fonzi jump the shark in Happy Days. I\\\\\\\'m sure this version of batman appeals to girls ages 4 to 9 but it makes me sick to say the least why would a person like Bruce Wayne choose an 11 year old girl as his partner answer.... Warner Brothers PR guys anyways thank a lot Warner Brothers for making a bad thing worse maybe next seaon you could have a guest appearance by Ellen or Oprah I\\\\\\\'m sure that would workmoreless

What Could\'ve been good has gone bad

By gamerboy190, Sep 26, 2011

First of all, why are they making Poison Ivy so small and little. That\'s a huge error and I feel that this is definitely changes the way that people looks at poision Ivy from Batman: The Animated Series who looks so sexy and seductive. This cheap knock-off ruins her legacy. The only thing that stands out in this episode was the mammoth sized villain known as Temblor. I really like this guy a lot. He has the originality and presence of becoming a great batman foe. Temblor may remind me of Shriek a little, but the writers do something, I can\'t explain it, different that makes him a stand out villain cared to the others in the series. Oh and one other thing. Those shades of his hads to go!moreless

If there's one surefire device to kill a series, it's introducing precocious children. As soon as a kid is introduced, it's time to put the show on life-support and gradually watch it waste away until it quietly dies.

By RedErik, Sep 26, 2011

I used to enjoy this series. The opening score was edgy and kinda industrial sounding. Batman was a young guy still, but as soon as the mask went on, he was all business. I never cared much for most of the character re-boots (never, ever mess with the Joker), but I learned to keep an open mind and look past it. I simply can't now. It happened in the Brady Bunch, when Oliver arrived. It happened in Married with Children with Seven. It's happened now with Batgirl: some precocious child is introduce which spoils the whole show. The music is no longer edgy, it's forgettable. And the re-imagining of Poison Ivy is brutal. It's all downhill from here, folks.moreless

Batgirl or should I say Batwoman Begins.

I turned on the channel today and I got a big surprise. I loved how this show made simalarities to Batman TAS's Batgirl. How she was and acrobat.

I was not so sure on the Batwoman thing. Isn't she a little young to be called Batwoman.

However, the episode was great! I was a little skeptical, is the car Batman was driving, the new or old Batmobile.

I also liked Barbra's sense of Humor. She seemed to be the Robin/Batgirl.The animation was great. Batgirl seemed to have better acrobatic skills than Robin who indead was an acrobat.Batgirl was played well in the episode many people thought that she like the series (Which it is not.) Would be a dud.This episode changed the minds of what ignorent fans thought that Batgirl would be.The episode was not perfect, but it was the best season opener so far. I hope that after this episode, many of those ignorent fans will come to relise BTAS is over and it's someone else's turn to tackle the Batman world. Justice League Unlimited is a great show but all of those fan's ignorence give the show a bad name and it stops people from giving it a veiw and seeing what they want to see.Seeing is Beleiving. In my book, Batgirl Begins (1) deserves a 9 out of 10. I hope more episodes of this season will be like this.moreless

Possibly the best episode of the series.

By Aldrius, Sep 17, 2005

What on earth? My favourite episode of a show is Batgirl's premier? It's sad but true. Though batgirl is totally annoying as usual, Poison Ivy is totally awesome. Pierra Coppola (sp) is a great voice-actress and really captured Poison Ivy's essence well. And except for the fact that he was a silly villain, Jim Cummings does the voice of Trembler, and well-- everyone loves Jim Cummings.

Though I didn't like the Pamela Isley all that much. Haha, I'm really hoping they introduce Harley now, though. I mean, Harley is owned by DC comics now, right? Using her in the show would be fine, I think. (I honestly just want to see Harley and Ivy team up. xP)Overall, an excellent piece of work. Teenage Ivy is a stupid idea (considering she even acted like an adult...), Batgirl is always annoying, and Jim Cummings and Piera Coppola were both well casted.moreless